I want to thank Maggie Finson and all the other authors for creating the Whateley Universe. This story is Fan-fiction and may not conform to Canon rules or timelines. I am only playing in their sandbox. I also want to thank Connected and my wife for all the editing work put in to turn my scratchings into a readable story.

Please note that all of the categories checked do not apply to all chapters. I appreciate all the encouraging comments and Kudos.

I appreciate everyone's patience and apologize for the lengthy delay in posting this chapter. I will try not to take nearly as long on the next one.

Waterdog

Wednesday
December 13th, 2007
Mammaw’s House

Her mom found Leah sitting dejectedly, half-heartedly brushing at her long tangled chestnut locks staring; eyes seemingly unfocused. Her empathy power sensing her daughter’s dejection and pain, and Kathleen was pretty sure she knew the trouble.

Kathleen came quietly in and took the brush from Leah’s hand and began gently detangling her hair as Leah just sat there. She worked in silence at first. The brush gliding through her silken hair was having a calming effect that eased the tension in Leah’s muscles as well as straightened the tangles. Kathleen could feel her relaxing. Finally her mom spoke, “Do you want to talk about it, baby?” She could discern the slight wince that indicated that Leah was still a little uncomfortable with the terms of endearment her mother usually used on her sisters.

Leah didn’t respond for couple of minutes. Kathleen was beginning to doubt she would, when she spoke up.

“I’ve ruined everything for all of us, haven’t I?” Kathleen could feel the dejection and self-loathing that lurked just below the surface.

“No, baby! You haven’t! If anyone is responsible for this, it is me, for falling in love with your father, and I wouldn’t change that if I could. It gave me you!”

“Yeah, but it’s my fault we have to move. Mom, I don’t want to leave Knoxville, it’s the only home I can remember. There’s so much I thought I would do there — with my friends! (Ha! that’s a joke! She thought remembering how the people that she thought were her friends were treating her).

“Not necessarily big things, Mom, just things. Now I’ll never get to go back to the zoo, or play tag in that huge old maple in the back yard with Chuck, Jim, and Fred. Hell, even Amanda used to swing with us through the branches until last year, when she decided she didn’t want to be a tomboy anymore. Like I said, just little things like hanging with the guys, or popping down the street to Jim’s house and finding his mom making her incredible chocolate cookies. It’s all going to be gone!”

Kathleen gathered her into her embrace. Leah wasn’t crying yet, but Kathleen could sense her tears just beneath the surface. She pulled Leah’s head down tightly against her shoulder. She didn’t think she would ever get used to the fact that Leah was so much taller than herself.

“I know that hanging with the guys has been just a memory for a while now, — except for Jim, of course.” Leah muttered into her neck. Kathleen could feel Leah’s heart quicken slightly as she thought of him. “I always told myself that things would get better and I could patch things up with my friends and things could go back to some sense of normal.

“But now that’s not going to happen, is it? — I won’t be there to make them happen.” There was a slight catch in her voice as she said, “I guess until now it didn’t seem real. Even the whirlwind packing and the drive up to Cincinnati seemed more like a spur of the moment holiday vacation than moving, but now with Dad’s call, it is really sinking in that we aren’t ever going to be able to go back.”

“No, baby!” Kathleen said softly as she stroked the silken hair of her newest daughter. “But life goes on. We all loved that house, but when all is said and done, it was just a house. We’ll find a new house and we’ll make it a home too. Nothing stands still. It’s not supposed to! Change is how we grow.”

“I know, Mama, but it just seems like it’s all my fault! If it weren’t for me. Evie and Beth wouldn’t have had to leave their friends and neither would you. You all would be better off without me around. That’s why you’re sending me off to boarding school, isn’t it?

“Leah Elizabeth Cook! Don’t you ever let me hear you say that again. We’re family! And family do whatever is needed for each other.” She said with a slight grin or maybe it was a grimace. “We’re sending you to Whateley because that’s what is best for you, not because we want to! Now I’ll hear no more of this defeatist talk from you, young lady, or you’ll find heir to a goddess or not, I can still tan your hide. You just watch and see if I don’t!”

Kathleen thought back to when she had taken the call last night, that Leah was talking about. Leah’s dad calling and saying that the realtor already had an offer on the house. It had surprised her, too. Her initial reaction wasn’t that much different from her newly minted daughter’s. She wished that things had moved a little slower. It would have been easier on all of them if the house hadn’t sold until after the New Year or at least until after Christmas.

The house hadn’t even been officially listed yet. The realtor had merely told a few people, who she knew were looking, and one of them had made a very good offer. It was a choice piece of historic architecture after all that had been lovingly restored and cared for.

Tom had the movers scheduled to come and pack up the house quickly on Saturday. They were going to put all the stuff in PODS that could be stored until they found out exactly where they were going to settle. She sighed softly, as she stroked Leah’s head. She didn’t like the thought of strangers living in her house, the house where she had raised her babies, but what was done was done.

“Leah, guess what? Your dad had some good news last night, too. You know how Mr. Haskins made life hard on Tom after finding out that you were a mutant. Well he decided, that even if you were a mutant, he really didn’t want to lose Tom as an employee. Tom has, after all, been his number one sales rep for the company eight years running, after all.

“You know Tom was going to give Mr. Haskins his notice yesterday that he was quitting so that we could be nearer where you were going to go to school in New Hampshire. Well, guess what? Haskins offered Tom, the Northeast Regional Sales Manager position.

“The current manager is about to retire so his territory and staff will soon need a new manager. It will be a lot of work and travel, since the current sales manager has let things slip, and sales are down a bit. Anyway, Mr. Haskins offered the territory to Tom, at nearly double the salary, provided he can restore the profitability of the territory within a couple of years. He will be home-based in Boston, — which is fairly convenient to Whateley Academy. And — since Mr. Haskins is transferring Tom, the company is paying for the moving.”

“That’s great! At least I’ll be able to see you guys more often. It’s still going to be hard though, isn’t it? — for all of you! I still wish we could just go home.”

————

Leah kicked her foot petulantly. She knew they had to move, but she missed her home and she missed Jim. She hated being whiny, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. Thank the Virgin, she would at least be seeing Jim again in a couple of months.

————

“Your dad hopes he might be joining us sooner than expected, since things are moving so fast on the house.” Kathleen said trying to cheer Leah up.

One part of Leah was glad, since she would see her dad sooner, but another part grieved. Her home was gone. Tears trickled down her cheeks from an empty spot aching in her heart. Her emotions were on edge anyway from her period.

—————

Beth was driving Leah crazy with questions about her monthlies, as Mom called them. Beth was anticipating her own first period before very long.

“What’s it like?” She asked bouncing on Leah’s bed that first night.

“Gross and smelly!”

“Yewww! ——— I guess it would be though, especially for someone with your senses.” Her enthusiasm dampened a little for a few seconds, wrinkling her nose as she thought about it.

Leah hadn’t thought about it in those terms. Probably she could smell it more, her nose was (or nostrils were) more sensitive. She hoped so, or passers-by would be calling 911. The coppery odor of blood seemed to fill her nose every time she moved.

“Was it really a surprise?” asked Beth, bouncing back from her momentary suppression of spirit.

“Well, duh! Yeah, you could say that, since a few months ago I never expected to ever have one. Can we talk about something else? I’m really grossed out about this.” Leah was disgusted by the whole process, but the young sister ignored her discomfort and continued to ask questions, one after the other, even though Leah was simply ignoring most of them.

—“What does a tampon feel like?”

—“How often do you have to change it?”

—“Does it feel weird to have a pad in your panties?

After nearly an hour of non-stop barrage, Leah got fed up, and literally picked her up and dumped her out of door, which she then closed and locked.

Eve chuckled when Leah came down to dinner. “Now you know some of what I went through during my first. She’s crazy on the subject. She can’t wait for it to start. Boy, is she in for a surprise!”

“No kiddin’! Leah responded, grinning for the first time since she wakened to her unwelcome visitor.

Fortunately, for Leah, her period, while very heavy, (with her having to wear both a tampon and thick pad), was relatively short. By Wednesday afternoon, she was only lightly spotting. Eve was frankly envious that Leah’s period only lasted two days.

Leah was just relieved to have it almost over, and dreading the fact that she could look forward to it again in a month, perhaps for hundreds of years. She shuddered at that thought. She still felt dirty, even though she’d just got out of the shower.

—————

“Sir, I finally succeeded in getting some information,“ Agent Jenkins told McAllister. “The DMV information was easy, and even most of the rental information. Although a couple of the larger agencies are making noises about protecting their client’s confidentiality, I’ve little doubt that I will be able to get that information shortly.”

“I got the tag numbers from the DMV for all of the SUV title transfer records. I then put the computers scanning the traffic control cameras on I-75 for a match, but so far nothing has shown up.”

“The school systems for the most part are still demanding court orders except for a few counties where most of the school boards are controlled by H-1 members or other people we have connections with.”

“So far all the realty records I’ve found are those listed on the internet.”

Jenkins knew Agent McAllister was becoming more and more frenzied every day about this. He seemed to think it shouldn’t be this hard, with the resources they had, to find one mutant.

“The intensive search has turned up a few unregistered mutants in the area, but none could be the one we are after. They are all mostly very low level mutants.”

“Pick them up, anyway. Put them in the isolation cells for now, we’ll ‘deal’ with them more permanently later.” McAllister said with a wave of his hand.

“On what charge, sir? They haven’t done anything.”

“They’re fuckin’ mutants, aren’t they? Who cares what they’ve done. We’ve got to wipe this scourge out. With the new money the Goodkinds are giving us, I expect that we’ll get that new legislation, we wanted. Then maybe we can even get help from that worthless DPA. The public wants action. They’re afraid of mutants. So lock ’em up and we’ll figure a way to find a final solution later. Why do you think we built all those maximum security cells under this office?”

Jenkins felt sick as he left McAllister’s office. This wasn’t what he had signed up for. More and more of the new field agents being hired though thought more like McAllister than himself though. Although there was a vocal few members of the ‘public’ who wanted action on mutants, he very much doubted the public in general gave mutants much thought or wanted this kind of action taken in this country, at all. Jenkins didn’t know why McAllister was so hard core on this subject.

————

McAllister’s parents worked overseas for the State Department, when he was growing up. They had been stationed first in one then another of the old soviet states. The attitude in those failing states toward mutants was much like the German’s attitude in WWII toward Jews.

Their economies had mostly never recovered from the recession in the first decade of the 21st century, and therefore, crime there was rampant. Like governments everywhere, when things were bad, they went looking for someone to blame it on. It kept the people from looking to close at their officials and their actions or lack thereof.

Mutants there had few rights or protections and McAllister had taken their philosophies to heart as he grew up. If he had his way, mutants here would have no rights, either.

————

“Agent McAllister?” The office secretary called out timidly. He ignored her the first time. “Agent McAllister, sir! The Regional Director is on the phone for you.”

“Tell him I’m busy.”

“I did, sir. He insists on speaking to you — NOW, sir!”

“Alright, alright! Damn his eyes! Tell him I’ll be right there.”

“Do you have those school lists yet?” McAllister stopped to ask Jenkins.

“No, sir. Most of the schools refuse to cooperate without a court order.”

“Damn them! Don’t they realize we’re protecting the human race? Damn them all to hell!” He muttered as he made his way toward his office.

The MCO Regional Managing Director had called three times in the past two days bitching about the unreasonable allocation of resources to this single case. McAllister made all the right noises on the phone to the regional office, then continued pouring resources toward it like water.

————

Agent Jenkins had never seen McAllister like this before, and hoped he never would again. He really didn’t understand why McAllister was so fixated on this girl.

Agent Wylann, from the new Internal Affairs office, had called Jenkins at home last night after getting his letter. They had discussed the case at length.

“You are right to contact me, Jenkins. You have every right to question McAllister’s obsession with this case. While this mutant might be, — Hell, probably is dangerous, we’ve got little evidence that she, if she is a she, has actually done anything.

Goddess class mutants are rare enough that we don’t know that much about them. She could be volatile, but at this point, we can’t prove she’s done nothing wrong. Hell, we don’t even sure she’s the right mutant that McAllister is looking for. Assuming that this “Terra” is who he’s hunting, and assuming that she has actually done all the things that McAllister is accusing her of, she still hasn’t done anything so terrible. Many mutants with similar powers and actions have been cautioned and let go. Hell! She’s even properly registered and had saved at least one life, maybe two.”

“That doesn’t sound all that dangerous to me, but McAlister does seem hell-bent on capturing her. I want you to keep an eye on him, and at the least hint he’s gone over the edge, contact me. I don’t like the way this organization is going, and if this isn’t stopped it’s going to get out of hand and turn into a full-blown pogram. It’s up to agents like you and me to figure out a way to stop it.” Agent Wylann was frustrated at the regional director for not taking stronger action already.

“Yes, Sir! And Sir, just for the record. I think McAllister’s loosing it. I don’t think this boy or girl is any real threat unless cornered, and certainly those low level mutants he’s got locked downstairs aren’t. I looked into that incident in the mountains, if it even was her, she showed more restraint than I would have. But cornered, or protecting people who are important to her, my guess is watch out. She probably has the power, but little training in controlling it.” Agent Jenkins was worried. He was feeling caught between a rock and a hard place.

“I know. I know!” Wylann replied, “That’s why I need McAllister to back off. We’re pretty sure she’s headed to Whateley. That would be the best place she could be — for all concerned. She needs training. Right now, thanks to McAllister, she or he is probably as touchy as a case of hundred-year-old dynamite.

“I’ve made sure if she can get there, she’ll be accepted, but that’s all I can do right now. Even though, he’s ticked at McAllister, the Regional Director won’t replace him, not yet. I’m heading your way in the morning on the 10 AM flight into Knoxville. Maybe I can talk some sense into him, but I doubt it. Meanwhile, I want you to register those low level mutants, give them a warning and let them go. This is on my authority and at my orders, if he finds out and asks about them. If he throws a fit as I expect him to, record it and refer him to me. Maybe he will give us the rope to hang him.”

“I tell you what else you can do, if you will. Kinda hold back on the information that’s pointing him in the right direction, and play up the things that will calm him down or steer him the wrong way. Can you do that? I promise I won’t let him hurt your career.”

“Sure, I can try, but don’t count on anything. I’ve been kinda trying to do that already, but he’s starting to go around me. It’s only a matter of time, before that old bloodhound picks up her trail.” Jenkins wondered if he could make something up that would distract McAllister.

“Okay. See you tomorrow. Do me a favor, have a small drop ship standing by, preferably from another district office. I may need it.”

————

Jenkins had gotten one 73% correlation between a tag issued to a new SUV and a house that was in the process of being sold in Knoxville. After discussing it, Agents Wylann and Jenkins decided that it wasn’t a strong enough link to justify hassling these people. Wylann told Jenkins to hold back the info from McAllister and to make note of any forwarding address. When it looked like McAllister was getting close to this information himself then Jenkins was to give it to him before he could confirm it and message Wylann, so Jenkins ass was covered, to preserve his cover. He also authorized Jenkins to check out covert bugs and recording devices that were normally used to track mutants to bug McAllister.

He gave Jenkins a direct line to contact him. Wylann also told Jenkins to keep an eye on McAllister, and if McAllister became more unstable, or if he succeeded in catching her, or they confirmed that she did something dangerous to others, to call him, day or night.

——————

Saturday
December 16th
Uncle Allen’s house

The girls were all excited this morning. They were going Christmas shopping, then they were going to Uncle Allen’s house, two of their favorite things to do. Even Leah was excited. Uncle Allen had always been her favorite relative, maybe because he had always treated her as an adult and an equal.

When she was Lee, he had taken Lee rock climbing in the mountains, or camping, or fishing, or just made time for him any time they were together.

Now maybe it was partially because his own children were all girls, but Leah didn’t think so. He had always included them until they had decided they were too girlie to participate in such boyish pastimes.

“How are my favorite nieces!” He said holding out his arms to embrace them, making sure with a look and a smile to ensure the Leah knew she was included when they arrived. After hugs and greetings all around, he stepped aside for his wife.

Aunt AnnaMarie, his wife, was always a little more standoffish, but she had always made them feel welcome in the past. The only thing Leah could say against her was she was always preaching at them. She was member of the Anglican Church, and didn’t really approve of papists. She had never made a big deal out of it, but she had never really ceased trying to convert Allen and the children.

But both of them had always gone out of their way to make us all feel welcome in their home, Leah thought, reflecting back on previous visits, until today.

Uncle Allen met all of them with a hug, but while Aunt AnnaMarie hugged her sisters, she totally ignored Leah. Or was she . . ? She’s not ignoring me, she’s – she’s snubbing me. I might as well not be in the room as far as Aunt AnnaMarie is concerned. That realization was gut-wrenching. How could she. . . and her attitude toward Mom is not much better, and – Oh my God -- she doesn’t even know mom’s a mutant yet. Leah glanced over to Uncle Allen, who simply shrugged his shoulders, as if to say what can I do? Well, at least she was making a fuss over Beth and Eve.

Then Leah realized things were even worse. Uncle Allen’s girls
were only 10 and 11 years old respectively, so she didn’t have much in common them to start with, but they had always been excited to see their older cousin. But now? While they were engaging with Beth and Eve, they wouldn’t even look at her. Clearly they didn’t want to or had been told not to have anything to do with her. In fact, within a few minutes, they took her sisters and went up to their room. The girls too? Oh, this is too much. She felt tears welling but, with a huge effort, she managed to suppress the hurt, and move on into the living room with Uncle Allen and her mother.

When Leah went into the living room with Uncle Allen and her mother, Aunt AnnaMarie said, “I’ve got some things on the stove in the kitchen,” but it sounded more to Leah like an excuse to get away from her and her mother.

“I’m sorry about that.” Uncle Allen said apologetically as they settled into the living room. “AnnaMarie’s gotten involved a church group doesn’t like mutants, and she has clearly taken it to heart.”

“It’s alright. I’m kind of getting used to it. It makes me sad though. I always liked Aunt AnnaMarie, and I thought she liked me.” Leah replied.

“No! It’s anything but alright.” He replied quickly with a little heat in his voice. “You didn’t ask for this, and you haven’t done anything wrong. You’re not the first to be the object of her bigotry, and I’m getting pretty tired of it. It was one thing when she was just expressing her own opinions, but now she’s begun trying to indoctrinate the girls.”

“Kathleen,” he rubbed his palms against his pant’s leg. “I haven’t said anything to you, when we’ve talked, because I figured you had enough on your plate; but AnnaMarie and I have been having problems for some time now. Mostly because of things like this. She almost got me fired, shooting off her mouth at the company picnic this year. The boss’ son is a mutant, with GSD. He looks like he is part cat, and Beth just couldn’t keep her mouth shut when he came to the picnic.

“I’ve been telling myself it was better for the girls, if we stayed together; but more and more I’m seeing how her prejudices are rubbing off on Candice and Anne. I haven’t decided quite what to do about it yet.

“Kathleen, what do you think? You were always my ballast as we grew up. Should we stay together for the sake of the girls or separate?”

Kathleen sat with a disturbed expression, thinking before she answered. “Allen, I’m not sure I’m the best one to advise you on this. I can’t really be a disinterested party here.”

She took a deep breath. “In the last few months since Leah began changing, I’ve come to understand just how damaging things like this can be. They’re not only damaging to the recipient of the prejudice, but everyone around them, and now — well it hadn’t seemed like the right time to bring it up when we talked on the phone, but — I’m a mutant myself.” Her brother-in-law gasped softly, then wrapped his arm around her.

“Don’t worry about it as far as I’m concerned, but let’s not mention it right now to AnnaMarie.” he looked pleadingly at her.

“I didn’t plan to tell her. It’s really none of her business, plus I can’t stand a bigot, especially now.”

“You should know though that I’m not ashamed of it. Leah caused me to manifest by saving my life when that H-1 scum-bucket tried to shove us off the mountain. I was seconds from death when Leah working from instinct used her healing power to fix the worst of my injuries. She also mended my broken back, but in doing so, she made me a mutant, too. I’m a pretty low level one, but a mutant all the same.

“So all of this has just has given me a more personal outlook on the whole subject of mutants. There is no easy answer, but AnnaMarie is wrong, and what’s worse she will never see that she is wrong.” Kathleen was getting more worked up all the time.

“I’ve not told you, but I’m somewhat of an empath now, so I can tell you just how much AnnaMarie hates having us here — in her house. If you weren’t my only living relative, frankly I would gather up the girls and leave right now, and never come back. The hatred I feel from her is painful. Especially, since I thought she and I were close, almost like sisters until today.

“Now all I can feel from her is disgust, and a desire for us to be gone, and your daughters aren’t much better. They don’t really understand what’s going on, but they sense how AnnaMarie feels about us, and that’s coloring their actions.

“I actually hate to have them around my girls, and if I didn’t know how much Beth and Eve love their sister, I would be worried about the mental poison your daughters are probably preaching at her right now.

“But AnnaMarie is your wife! You’ve got to decide what you feel and what you can tolerate in your house. I can’t do that for you. Do you want us here enough to buck her on this, knowing the issues it will cause?”

“Kathleen, you know I love you, and I couldn’t love your children more if they were mine. It’s issues like this that are driving me to consider a split.

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s not just the mutant issues. AnnaMarie becomes more bigoted and hate-filled every day toward anyone who’s different. She actually started a petition to try to drive an elderly muslim couple out of the neighborhood. Those people were born in this country and have lived here all their married life. They have been nothing, but good people and good neighbors. Fortunately, she got little support for the petition, in fact quite the opposite, but that just made her hate them more.

“I really don’t want to leave her. I love her dearly, or did, before she began to change. Now, I just don’t know what I feel toward her. I know I don’t like what she’s becoming, and I don’t like what she’s doing to the girls.”

Kathleen walked over and put a hand on her Allen’s shoulder. “I’ve written you and talked to you, so you know some of the problems Leah has encountered since changing. It’s been very hard for her to maintain her positive outlook on life, but she mostly has. How I honestly don’t know, in the face of people like AnnaMarie, and so many others. People have tried to push us off a mountain, vandalized our cars and house, and tried to attack or capture Leah for experiments and that ignores the name-calling, bullying and relatively minor stuff at school. Is it any wonder that some mutants go bad? They’re just people under it all. Most of them that go bad, do so, I suspect, because people don’t give them any other choice.”

Kathleen looked at Leah who was sitting there quietly with tears glistening in her eyes. “I know how hard it is for you, baby, and how important family has been for you.” She said softly but from the heart.

Leah nodded, not trusting her voice to speak. Even though she was currently invisible, Leah could feel Golden bristling beside her.

“Allen, I can’t — won’t tell you what to do, but I’m afraid this is the way it is. AnnaMarie’s venom is infecting everything and everyone around her. I came here today, suspecting that she had a problem with mutants from your letters, but I never expected the level of loathing and hostility I feel. It’s slimy, and corrosive. It clings to and destroys everything it touches.

“And I can tell you this, brother, as hard as you are fighting it, it is affecting you, too. The brother I knew and grew up with wouldn’t even have had to ask these questions.”

They sat there staring sadly at one another for several minutes, sipping on their coffees. Then Allen spoke up. “You’re right, of course. — you always were! Darn it!” He said with a teasing grin.” His face grew more serious. “I’m giving her an ultimatum tonight. She has to change, or we are going to divorce, and I’ll fight her for the girls. I don’t inten——

—————-

Right then, loud shouting came from the girls’ bedroom. “You take that back!” Eve’s angry voice sliced through the house.

“No! She’s a monster and a witch! She should be killed! The Bible says ‘suffer not a witch to live’ and she’s going to hell!” Candice’s voice was as full of malice as her mother’s.

“You bitch,” Beth’s shrill voice.

“You leave my sister alone,” Anne’s husky contralto boomed, as the sounds of a scuffle broke out. The noise of things falling and breaking.

Then they heard the two smaller girls start chanting. “Witch! Witch! Leah’s a witch! Witch! Witch! Leah’s a witch!

AnnaMarie came running through the house, drying her hands on her apron as she went. More shouting and tussling ensued. Allen and Kathleen were starting toward the noise, when AnnaMarie came down the hallway dragging Eve and Beth by their hair.

“Your daughters attacked my girls, for no reason other than they were telling the truth! I want you to take them and that _thing_ and get out of my house, this instant!” Her face was bright red with anger. She half slung the sisters into the room. Hair fell from her hands where she had pulled it out by the roots. The girls were both crying.

“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!” Allen’s normally soft voice reverberated around the room.

“I’ll tell you what’s going on! That witch has infected our house with her sinfulness. I told you I didn’t want them here, but you just had to have things your way. Now Anne is crying on her bed, her favorite doll broke beyond repair, just because she told the truth about that thing sitting there, acting so innocent.” She looked at Leah. “Well, you don’t fool me. You should be burned, like all witches!”

Leah’s face burned with shame. What had she done to warrant this? Maybe she was some kind of monster. Nearly everyone seemed to think that.

But more than that though; she was angry, Angry at the treatment of her sisters by Aunt AnnaMarie. She stood slowly to her feet. Golden winked into view beside her, snarling and emitting a low growling that echoed through the room from her chest. As the anger continued to overcome her shame, she seemed to grow as her essence rose to the surface such that her presence filled the room. Energy crackled around her, her eyes were dark, full of power and her long hair was waving violently around her head crackling with static. In spite of her anger, when she spoke it was with a quiet calm voice, but one that would brook no discussion.

“Aunt AnnaMarie! I have done nothing to you or yours — yet, but You. know. this! I will not tolerate anyone, even family, mistreating my sisters.” Her voice had a timbre that seemed to resonate painfully in the heads and bones of all present. Her anger was a palpable thing that beat on her Aunt. “You will apologize to them NOW. and then I will leave this house and never return as long as you are here, but you will leave my sisters out of this!”

Aunt AnnaMarie backed up until she was against the door frame, her eyes wide with fear. She seemed to shrink as her fear of Leah made her become an almost pitiable thing. Kathleen nor Uncle Allen felt frozen in place and couldn’t make themselves intervene in the scene before them, even when Golden took a couple of menacing steps and let out a loud no-nonsense scream of anger.

Leah stood waiting, staring at her Aunt, her anger a tangible thing in the room. No one else in the room made a sound, except her sobbing sisters, clinging to one another on the floor where Aunt AnnaMarie had slung them.

Finally, in a small quivering voice, “I’m sorry, girls. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. I won’t do it again.” Then her voice grew harsher, “It’s that thing masquerading as your sister that’s the cause of this.” Turning back to Leah, she made herself clear, practically spitting. “To you, I apologize for nothing! You’re a freak and a monster! I want you out of my house. You have already imperiled your own mother’s soul, and you will not corrupt me and mine.”

Uncle Allen was released from his immobility as Leah’s presence receded slightly and spoke up then, in a quiet firm voice that brooked no argument, “Leah will always be welcome within this house as long as I live here. She had no control over what has happened to her, and I will not sit here and listen to your narrow-minded abhorrent ramblings. Leah is a sweet, innocent girl, who has had a very difficult time.

The last thing she needs is your self-righteous dribble. Now if you don’t like that, then you can leave, but know this. The girls will not be going with you.” With a shocked look on her face, Aunt AnnaMarie turned and ran from the room, crying.

Leah seemed to draw back into herself, but remained standing for a moment, before she shuddered and collapsed into her chair, emotionally drained. Eve and Beth ran to her, wrapping her in a hug as they cried on her shoulders. Golden laid her great head in Leah’s lap as her hair wrapped around all of them like a cocoon. Finally she became aware of her mother and uncle still in the room sitting quietly staring at her in awe. Her hair unwrapped from around her face.

“I’m sorry.” She addressed herself in a small almost timid voice directed mostly to her uncle, but to a certain extent all of them. “I shouldn’t have done that, but I love my sisters too much to let anyone hurt them. I should have handled it better.” She apologized as her hair pulled back from around them.

Uncle Allen sat quietly for a long moment. “You’re right, you could have handled it better.” He said gently reaching out and stroked her hair, then cupping her cheek in his hand. “You’ve only convinced her of the moral certainty that she was right about you. On the other hand, it’s my experience that when a person has become that petty and convinced of their own righteousness, there is little real hope of changing their mind no matter what you do.

“I, on the other hand, wish to thank you. You have crystallized my own thoughts on the subject. I know now that for me to stay, is only to open myself to living in this pit of venom that has become her stock and trade and either be slowly infected by it, or sink into bitterness.

“You, however, have given me a third option, I can leave her or she can leave — now while there is still feeling between us. That way, if she can see her way clear of this morass, then maybe, just maybe, we can try to pick up the pieces and try to be a family again. Maybe, at least, that way with a little luck, I can get my daughters away from her before it’s too late for them, as well.”

Leah sat slack-jawed, unable to respond. She certainly hadn’t meant to come between her uncle and his family. She was only defending her sisters. It seemed wherever she went she left devastation and ruin behind her. Her mother had been nearly killed. Her own family had been driven from their home, and now she felt she was responsible for driving a wedge into her uncle’s family. Tears ran down her face. She was a monster, maybe an unintentional one, but a force of destruction none the less.

Her mother feeling her pain, went to hold her daughter. Kathleen sat beside her and cradled Leah’s head against herself leaning over Beth’s head, stroking Leah’s silken locks. Her locks still writhed with agitation, slowly calmed and lay hanging down her back once again. No words were spoken. Beth and Eve, confusion on their young faces, were huddling against them and trying to understand what had just happened. Leah’s face, however, had lost a little more of its youthful simplicity. She rocked Leah as Kathleen tried and failed to know how to comfort her daughter whose emotions were so chaotic and filled with self-loathing.

Leah had lost that piece of her innocence that contained the instinctive sense that her family would alway accept her. Kathleen knew that Lee had always liked Aunt AnnaMarie, and had thought she would accept Leah. Now she could feel that it was almost unbearable for Leah, that this beloved aunt had turned her back on her. Kathleen’s empathy showed her just how deeply this had cut.

Leah had got through her changes mainly because she had a solid foundation of family who believed in her and trusted her. Now that foundation was showing cracks and Kathleen knew that shook Leah to the core. Kathleen tried to reassure her, but the rancor of her Aunt’s diatribe hurt Leah deeply.

All of them gave Uncle Allen a big hug, then they left to return to Leah’s grandparents. It was a very quiet ride back. Kathleen tried to think of something to say to make Leah feel better, but in the end, they just rode in near silence.

—————

December 23rd

Agent McAllister had finally gotten a possible lead. A bunch of anti-mutant leaders had disappeared a couple of weeks ago in a manner that suggested magic. He was convinced that it had something to do with “his” mutant.

For one thing, one of the missing was a teacher at John Paul Jones High School. By nosing around and asking questions of the students, he had learned that a boy from the junior varsity football team had become transgender, and the nature of the change suggested it wasn’t by the conventional surgical means for this perversion.

McAllister had boldly lied to a federal judge about this mutant’s activities. He claimed that witnesses could connected her to the multiple disappearances that had occurred using generic witness forms supposedly filled out by real people whose signatures had been forged. He claimed in a formal sworn affidavit that Leah was also suspected of being responsible for for a whole series of unsolved cases over the past six months.

Now he was finally armed with a Federal court order that Jenkins’ half-hearted efforts had failed to produce. Really, sometimes he wondered if Jenkins wasn’t sympathetic to these things (his lips curling at the mere thought of these gene freaks). Freaks that undermined McAllister’s neat sane society, but that was an issue for another day. Some days he wished he were back in the old soviet republics, where they knew how to deal with these monsters.

Armed with the warrant and a full combat squad including 2 agents in powered armor, he descended on John Paul Jones High School’s office demanding to see their records. Given it was Saturday he had to wait for the principal to arrive, and then even with all this he was forced to wait impatiently again for the arrival of the school’s attorney. He was grinding his teeth by the time the legalities were observed.

Finally, he was allowed to see the records for the three students that had transferred out since the beginning of the school year. Only one really interested him though, and that was a sealed records transfer to that to that damned mutant haven, Whateley Academy.

Now he had a name and knew where the family lived. The transfer request had only been made a week ago, maybe he could catch it before it left town. He knew if that thing got to Whateley, he would play hell getting his hands on it.

“Come on,” he growled at that incompetent Jenkins, “we got ourselves a mutant to capture.”

“On what charge, Sir?” that infuriating Jenkins had the nerve to ask.

“Charge? I don’t need any goddamn charge! Make something up, I don’t give a damn what! She’s a fu’kin’ gene freak mutant, and some kind of gender changing monstrosity on top of that. We’ll just grab her and sort out the paperwork later, after we’ve got her in a holding cell somewhere where no damn lawyer can ever find her. Then we’ll turn her over to the research division to take apart to see what makes her tick. Maybe that information will help us, one day, to wipe this scourge from humanity.”

————

McAllister was losing it. Jenkins was actually becoming frightened of his boss. He knew he hated mutants, but he never before exhibited this kind of mania.

Jenkins started to flip up the guard on the small emergency transceiver in his pocket that Agent Wylann had authorized him. After thinking about it though, he did nothing but continue using it to record McAllister’s tirade. He needed more evidence before triggering the emergency button.

————

Within minutes, the agents arrived at Leah’s old house. There was a realty sign in the yard with a sold sticker plastered across it. It was obvious that the house was empty. Agent McAllister was stomping around furious. He burned down the door with and energy gun just to make sure, but it was clear there was no one there. Finally in frustration, he kicked the realty sign out of the yard and into the street. Jenkins quietly recorded the agent’s temper tantrum.

————

From his rented car parked down the street, Tom watched as the heavily armed force landed in his former yard. The movers had only left 15 minutes before they arrived. He watched and recorded it with his video camera as the agent who was obviously in charge threw his fit. It would have been funny, in keystone cops kind of way, if he didn’t know how deadly serious it was. He laid his camera aside and quietly put the car into gear. He slowly cruised down the street past them and away, while the MCO agent fumed and ranted at his subordinates outside the house.

————

When Tom got to Cincinnati they had a joyous reunion. Later, after the kids were in bed, Tom quietly told Kathleen about the MCO raid as they readied for bed. He showed her the playback on the cameras tiny screen.

“You know that we are going to have to get her out of here even faster than we’d planned. If the MCO knows who she is, they may start looking at relatives. How long do you think it will be before they show up here?”

“Oh, Tom! I really wanted all of us, but especially Leah to have a nice Christmas here together with family, before she had to leave. Who knows when we’ll all be together again. It’s only two day’s away. Can’t we wait that long?” She pleaded.

Tom looked at his wife with sadness. He understood all too well the pain this impending separation from her firstborn was causing her. He also knew that the MCO was deadly serious about apprehending her.

“Alright, but if there’s any sign of the MCO in the area, we leave right then! No arguments. No hesitating. No waiting while someone packs. Everyone stays packed. You understand that, don’t you? These people are really after her. I don’t know why, but you didn’t see them at our old house. They’re maniacal about it. They showed up with enough firepower to take down the Atlanta Rebels.

“If they get their hands on her before we get her to Whateley, it will be an uphill fight to ever get her out of their clutches.” Tom thought of his last conversation with Coach yesterday. He was pretty sure, if necessary, Leah could probably extract herself, but that would almost certainly cause more problems than it solved.

“I have serious doubts about waiting.” He said quietly, but as he looked at Kathleen’s pain-filled eyes, he knew he couldn’t deny her. He just hoped they didn’t all regret it. “Maybe if we keep a very low profile. We are going to have to contact the school to make sure they can take her during the holidays, so she can’t leave before tomorrow anyway.”

“Surely even the MCO takes Christmas off,” Kathleen almost pleaded.

Tom could see how much she wanted to believe that and didn’t have the heart to disagree, but Kathleen hadn’t seen the malevolence in the aborted attack at their previous home. In the end he agreed to waiting until after Christmas, but something deep inside him knew it was the wrong decision. He just hoped that it wasn’t so wrong that it became a mistake that Leah would end up paying for with her freedom — or her life.

In the dark of the bedroom, he hugged Kathleen to himself fiercely. Later as her presence calmed him, the passion of his fear turned to another kind of passion, and they made love late into the night. None would know it for some time yet, but the girls got another baby brother that night.

December 24th
Early afternoon

“Hello, Mrs. Carson speaking.”

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Carson. This is Thomas Cook. Do you remember me. We talked some weeks ago now about my daughter Leah.”

“I remember. You were concerned about the social situation there in ?Knoxburg?, I believe it was.”

It was Knoxville, but yes. I’m sorry to bother you on Christmas Eve, but I believe the situation is deteriorating much more quickly than I anticipated.”

“That’s quite all right, Mr. Cook. I’m just trying to catch up on my paperwork, while things are kind of quiet here. What can I do for you?”

“Due to some the extenuating circumstances, we have moved, temporarily only to a relative’s house. I am disinclined to say where over the phone, as the MCO paid our previous home a visit just as I was leaving. They didn’t see me, but the visit was not a social call. They landed on the lawn with a dozen heavily armed agents, four mech-augmented hounds and two powered assault suits. They seemed quite perturbed to find no one there.” Tom paused to marshall his thoughts.

“I think I understand your concerns, Mr. Cook. I suspect that you now wish Leah to come to the school somewhat sooner than we had discussed?”

“Yes, Ma’am. I’m sure that our current location will be secure only a very short time as it is a logical place for them to look, now that they know or suspect Leah’s identity — days at the most, perhaps only a matter of hours. Can you help us?”

“I’m sure we can, but it will take at least a couple of days to complete the in-processing paperwork. As you can imagine, due to the holidays I am critically short staffed. Can you find someplace secure for that long? If not, we can try other measures. I won’t turn her away because of paperwork, but it would be better for all concerned if we could cement her status here before the MCO come calling for her.

“I am going to contact one of our newest faculty members. Let’s just say she has had a long and colorful career of avoiding the authorities. She may be able to help. Her codename is Imp, and while her methods are somewhat unconventional, they do work.”

“I believe we can manage a couple of days, but I am most anxious to get Leah to the school. Given recent events, I don’t think the MCO agent is well intended.”

“Do you know the agent’s name?”

“I was told that the agent who seems out to get Leah is named McAllister.” Tom said remembering Coach’s discussion about the man. There was silence from the other end of the phone line for a long few very long seconds.

“I am familiar with him. You are right to be concerned.”

There was a hard edge to Mrs Carson’s voice, giving Tom the distinct vision of a lip curling in anger upon hearing the agent’s name, even though he had never met her and he couldn’t possibly put a true likeness to the vision. “You are right to be concerned. He has been suspected of involvement in the disappearance of several students heading to this school. I won’t ask where you are, as he is not above illegal wiretaps. I suggest you get several disposable cellphones, and don’t use any of them for more than a day or so, and don’t stay in any one location more than two days at a time. One would be better. He has a quite nasty reputation and is relentless when he gets on the trail.”

“I’m using a disposable now. I don’t plan on using this phone again. We will leave here no later than Wednesday morning. I will text you a contact number and location as soon as we stop, to see what the progress is.”

“Very well, Mr. Cook. Are you equipped to use cash rather than cards?”

“Yes.

“I also, suggest that you split your family up to confuse the trail. Good luck and watch your back. McAllister is not at all above causing collateral civilian damage or taking hostages to get his target, so make sure all your family is secure, and don’t count on there being safety in numbers at least until you can get Leah here. Keeping a lawyer handy would not be a bad idea either.”

“My brother can probably help there, or if he can’t, he should know someone who can. Thank you, Mrs. Carson. This is a load off my mind.”

“Don’t thank me yet. You can thank me when you get her here safely. Don’t relax for an instance. Get her here first, then we have leverage. We can protect her here, even from the MCO, in most cases. I will talk to you soon.”

“Goodbye and thanks again.”

————

Mrs Carson quickly called Imp and briefly explained the situation, including the measures already being taken. “Do you have any suggestions that might help this girl get here?”

“Well maybe. If it were me, I’d contact a couple of gadgeteers I know who are computer wizards and get them to disrupt the traffic camera system between Cincinnati and here. That would slow down their ability to track their vehicle and make facial recognition slower. They also need to get vehicle whose records can’t be tied to them or any of their family. I might be able to arrange that. They also need to find a route that doesn’t lead directly from where they are to here. You know the MCO is going to be waiting in Dunwich and probably Berlin.”

“Yes, that’s a problem.”

“Maybe not. Can’t Fey and Sir Wallace teleport?”

“Yes, but the distance and luggage is a problem. To teleport that kind of distance requires a long time to set up, days at least.”

“How about from Albany?”

“That would be better.” Mrs. Carson was beginning to see how Imp had been a successful and uncaught thief for so long.

“She could ship the majority of her luggage, just carrying say a backpack full to last her until the rest of her luggage arrives.”

Mrs. Carson thought for a few moments, then said. “I think this could work, if she can get there. Make those arrangements for that vehicle and see what you can do to limit MCO’s access to those traffic cameras. Send me the bill. I think it’s time to dip into the emergency funds. Thanks, Imp.”

————

Mrs. Carson stared at the phone for several minutes after hanging it up. Then she picked it up and dialed a confidential number to one of the DARPA administrators. She heard the phone ring, then forward to another phone. After ringing for several minutes, a slightly sleepy male voice came on.

“Hello, Nick Riley here.”

“Hello, Nick. This is Elizabeth Carson.”

“Elizabeth, don’t tell me Nikki has been in trouble again.”

“No, no! Nikki been very — calm for her and her friends. However, I may have another issue I’m hoping you can help me with, if you’re willing. A young lady with — how shall I say this — ‘similar issues to Nikki’ is heading here, but McAllister with the MCO is hot on her trail.”

“I’m truly sorry to hear that but there’s not a lot I can do against the MCO. They do have a treaty with the US to control dangerous mutants. My jurisdiction is very limited, and as you know I’ve stretched it several times in the past few months.”

Mrs. Carson paused thinking how best to coax Nick to use his influence. “You know McAllister. Do you think he’s going to abide by US rules or citizen rights?”

“No, I guess not, but I’m still unsure what I can do. If this girl was there, then maybe, but until then?”

“Nick, Mrs. Potter called me two days before I had even heard of this girl to tell me she was important. How she is important, — I don’t know. You know how vague seers are, even one as talented as Mrs. Potter.”

“Oh!” Nick paused. “If Mrs. Potter is involving herself in this girl’s life then perhaps I better give her some attention, as well. I’m running through favors owed me like water lately, but still!” He muttered “Well, I guess I can make a phone call or two, and see if I can get my friends at the DPA to help out.”

Elizabeth pondered how to say what she needed to say. Straight out, she guessed. Nick was a fair man.

“I’m not completely sure that’s the best move just now.” She said softly.

“And why is that?” Nick asked knowing he probably wasn’t going to like the answer.

“Well, her power testing was done under the auspices of the DPA, and at the end, the agent, who is not one I would have thought reactionary, changed her MID.”

“Changed it how?” She could hear the nervousness in his voice now. “And who was the DPA agent?”

“James Allison.” Elizabeth chose to answer the second question first.

“He’s a good man. What kind of change did he make that has you concerned?”

“He changed her classification from Fae Class to Goddess class.”

“He did what? They didn’t even class Nikki as a Goddess! What the hell is this girl?” The incredulity fairly dripped off Nick’s voice.

I’m not sure yet, but I’ve got a few suspicions.”

“Goddess-class. That’s ridiculous, she hasn’t even been fully tested, yet has she?”

“No, although Doctor Gadget is pretty good at it, he doesn’t have the equipment or available expertise to make that kind of judgement. No, I think Allison had political pressure placed on him to make it ‘Open Season’ on Leah. Someone or something doesn’t want her to get here, at least not alive. I’m hearing disturbing rumors, that the independence of the DPA from the MCO and H-1 is being compromised by money and lobbying pressure backed by the Goodkinds.”

“Yeah. I’m hearing the same rumors. They’re setting up to buy this next election. If they do, You’re going to have trouble maintaining Whateley’s independence and neutrality.” Nick sighed. He’d gone up against the Goodkinds several times and usually lost. “Is it possible that this girl is really that good?”

“Of course, it’s possible, but we just don’t know yet, and if someone gets their way, we never will. She has already been attacked several times, and if the stories I hear are true while she did damage to her opponents each time, she has shown remarkable restraint in her responses, especially for someone with as little training and control as she is bound to have.” Mrs. Carson stopped and thought for a second before revealing this next piece.

“Nick! I don’t know if I should tell you this but you should also know that she may be able to activate latent powers in older mundanes. She appears to have made her mother a low level mutant during the process of healing her during one of the attacks.”

“She did what?” There was a very long pause. “You’re right we’ve got to see that she gets there.”

Mrs. Carson thought for a minute before continuing. “You know that there has been a remarkable upswing in the number and power of mutants recently. It’s almost like someone or something is gathering powerful troops to respond to a threat, they perceive is coming, that we don’t see yet. You and I both know the upswing is way outside the statistical norm and Mrs. Potter confirms it. She also says if we don’t get this girl on our side, ‘we could lose the world’; those are her words, not mine. — I want to get this girl here; find out what she can really do; and get her training started, sooner rather than later. Will you help?”

“Elizabeth, you know the President has forbidden any of us getting directly involved, until these mutants can make their way to the school. Until she gets there, my hands are mostly tied. I can make some phone calls though and maybe take a little of the pressure off her, and once she is there, the President has authorized all necessary measures to keep students at the school safe. He and his advisors think something bad is coming too. This is classified information, but for a few hours a couple of weeks ago pi became a rational number.”

“What?! Oh, my Goddess. This may be worse than any of us dreamed. There are only a few entities capable of that and they have been sealed away from the Earth since before mankind developed intelligence. If they are trying to break the seals, we are in real trouble.”

“Nick, all I’m asking, is for you be prepared to give me some backup once she gets here. If there is anything else you can do to throw McAllister a curveball, though I wouldn’t turn it down”

“That I can probably arrange. I might be able to get her some unofficial help getting there.”

“Good. I’ll call you when I know more, and thanks.”

“Elizabeth, you’ve helped Nikki so often, no thanks are needed. One more thing you should know though, you know the President is nearing the end of his last term. I’m frightened about what will happen after that. The anti-mutant sentiment is growing rapidly, largely to the Goodkinds and their money. I fear that the next administration will not be as tolerant of Whateley’s protected status as the current one.”

“I’m aware of this, Nick, but I appreciate the heads up. I am taking steps to protect the school, no matter what. I probably shouldn’t say more over the phone. I know this line is encrypted, but nothing is perfect and this is a case of the less you know, the better, but thanks again. I’ll talk to you again soon in person so we can more frankly discuss the future.

————

Nick sat in his living room, sipping at a cup of coffee that had long since grown cold. Elizabeth was right, but he wasn’t sure if she was aware of just how right she was.

Nick knew that there were powerful forces at work. His friends at the DPA were nervous. No! Nervous didn’t begin to cover it. He was certain that was the reason for Agent Allison to changing her MID.

It wasn’t just the upswing in the numbers and power of the mutants manifesting. The DPA and the military had been called out on several calls of strange phenomenon and beasts appearing lately. Some creatures were recognizable from mythology, but there were others that would make Stephen King blanch and maybe even Lovecraft.

So far, the DPA seemed able to handle them using some of the more unusual weaponry their devisors and gadgeteers were turning out, and a few of the better supergroups, but there had been some close calls. It was getting harder and harder to cover them up, too. Like that outbreak of “zombies” last month in northern California, by the time they got the call, two thirds of the small town were infected. The DPA had leveled the town, after evacuating the uninfected, and swearing them to secrecy. Then they had set a forest fire to cover up the fact that whatever these things were, they made zombies seem cuddly. Twenty-three DPA agents had been killed, eight more were locked in a psych ward in Area 51, seven had quit the DPA on the spot, and eleven more had taken a hardship retirement package.

Of course, some of the rescued had talked in spite of being sworn to secrecy, but thankfully only the tabloids ran with the story. That story actually helped, since if the tabloids printed it, the majority of the mainstream population automatically discounted it as a hoax, especially after a few well placed leaks made the story even more unbelievable.

Sooner or later though, a reputable reporter was going to be in the wrong place at the right time. Nick wondered what the government would do, once one of these stories was confirmed. Nick pulled out a bottle of 40 year old scotch and tossing the cold coffee into a potted plant half fill the cup with scotch.

Nick knew that some in the government were capable of almost anything. Some of the proposals he’d heard were worse than the things they were trying stop. Ever since Nikki had manifested, he’d found himself being drawn into mutant issues more and more. Thanks to the Goodkinds and others like them, more and more people were starting to blame problems like this on mutants, whether or not they had anything to do with it. Nick just hoped that the public would realize that despite a few bad eggs among the mutants, they might be humanity’s only hope.

Nick drummed his fingers absently on the arm of the chair for some time, before picking up his secure phone. He needed to call in some more favors. At the rate he was burning through favors though, pretty soon he would be the one having to pay.

December 25th
6:30 am

The younger girls woke Leah, giggling, bouncing, and shaking her trying to wake her. “Get up! Get up! It’s Christmas. Come on, get up!

“Go away,” Leah muttered pulling the pillow over her head. Even as Lee, she had never been a morning person.

“Get up! We’ve got presents and you know Mom won’t let any of us open presents until we’re all there.”

“Leave me alone!” She peeped at the window. “Arrgh! It’s the middle of the frakkin’ night.” She turned her head away from them only to have a broad rough tongue lick her face.

“Ahhh crap, Golden, I’ll get you, you traitor.” She heard a rumbling chuckle in her head.

Beth started bouncing on the bed again. “Come on, Leah,” she pleaded. “It’s Christmas.”

Leah groaned, slowly giving in to the inevitable. She pried one eye open and peeped at Beth and Eve. “What you going to do for me, if I get up?” She might as well milk this for any advantage she could get.

“We’ll tell you who’s come to see ya. They got here after you went to bed.” Eve grinned.

“Who? And it’s not enough, I’ll find out who it is if I get up anyway.” She replied slyly, determined to make the little minxes pay for waking her.

“We’ll do your share of the clean up all day.” Beth responded, with Eve giving her a glare, before relenting and nodding reluctantly.

Leah groaned again softly turning over and snuggling under the thick down comforter. “Alright, alright, but you’ll have to wait while I shower.”

“Awww! That’ll take foreeevver!” Beth wheedled as she bounced some more. “Come on, pleeeease?”

“Okay, okay. I guess I can shower after breakfast. I do get breakfast, don’t I?” Leah was really milking this, mostly just to push her sister’s buttons.

“I’ll make you pancakes and bacon and eggs — after we open presents!” Eve smiled, knowing that now that food was mentioned, they had her. Ever since her last burnout, Leah ate like there was no tomorrow. Something about it being the result of her change in energizer status. She ate more than Eve, Beth, their mom, and Mammaw combined — at every meal now.

“Alright! Alright! Get off my bed and let me up.”

Beth and Eve squealed with joy and bounced off the bed. Leah got up wrapping the comforter around her and sliding her feet into the silk brocade slippers by the bed. Mammaw’s house was great but it was drafty. She headed to the bathroom to take care of necessities. At least that awful period was over — for this month anyway. She grimaced as she thought about having to go through that every month for God-only-knew how long.

She scowled, as she sat on the frigid toilet seat. She resolved to use her gadgeteering to improve Mammaw’s bathrooms by making the toilet seats self-heating. She thought about various ways to do it without making them plug-in. After all, she didn’t want to electrocute herself sitting on the crapper. That would be embarrassing. “Hmmm!” as she thought of a way to possibly make a better battery that would suck energy out of a neighboring dimension. She was pretty sure, it was a violation of physical laws but what good was being a devisor and a gadgeteer, if you couldn’t violate the law (of physics anyway), she grinned. Oh, well, first things first — food!

Finishing her business, she carefully patted herself dry as she had been taught. She still had to think about it every time, and hated it. It was so much more trouble taking a leak than it had been as a boy, but the alternative was damp, stinky panties, and that was too gross to think about.

A quick brushing of her teeth and then the ten minute ritual that brushing her long silky hair had become, albeit a pleasant ritual. Finally, a quick application of moisturizer, and she was done. She was pretty sure that she didn’t really need the moisturizer, but it felt and smelled nice.

She had decided after her last hospital stay that if she was going to be a woman, then she was going to take advantage of all the best things about it. She had always, as Lee, been secretly envious of the pretty clothes, jewelry, nice smells and other things girls got to wear that boys couldn’t. Since becoming a girl, she had discovered she really adored the perfumed lotions, shampoos and conditioners, and all the other indulgences that boys couldn’t admit to liking.

She quickly stripped off her pajamas. She looked at herself in the mirror. She still had trouble thinking of this long-legged, slender vision looking back as herself.

She gathered her hair up and slipped a green silk ribbon that matched her eyes through and tied it in a bow creating a lush ponytail set high on her head. Even tied up, her wavy thick hair reached to her hips. She still resented the care her long hair took a little bit, but it did look so good. It was pretty, and call her narcissistic, but she liked being pretty. Also, if she was being completely honest with herself, she found the ritual of brushing it, rather zen-like and calming. In spite of Lee's niggling voice in the back of her head, she was beginning to like being girl.

She looked in the mirror again and shook her head, watching her dark, wavy ponytail bounce and sway with the motion of her head. She frowned something wasn’t right. Pawing through her meagerly supplied jewelry box, she found what she wanted. A six-inch translucent, carved hair clasp made of the finest alabaster. It stood out exquisitely against her dark auburn hair, and a very bright eight inch long brilliant silver pick, (that seemed unusually sharp) to hold her hair in place. The pick was encrusted on the large end with real, flawless, multicolored sapphires, Piling her hair on top of her head and using the clasp to hold it in place, Leah thought she looked very sophisticated.

Actually, she had some ways to go to be sophisticated, but the very thought that she could look experienced as a girl would have been alien to her a few weeks ago. She would learn, like any other girl what sophisticated really looked like. She was right about one thing though, her hair swept up and held with the pick was beautiful.

Danu had sent the clasp to her for her birthday with a cryptic note in which Danu had hinted that there was more to this piece of jewelry than met the eye. She said she would explain more the next time Leah visited her. Having two mothers was alright when it came time for birthdays and such. Kathleen had gotten her a brand new IPad.

Leah was finally starting to take pride in the way she looked. She blushed as she realized that she couldn’t wait to try out the flirtatiousness that her sisters had been teaching her on boys. It shook her a little to be contemplating such thoughts, having been a boy so recently. It would seem that her mutation was changing more than just her outsides, but to her surprise — she was okay with that.

She slipped on a clean silk panty and bra set, and a pair of red silk house pants with matching top that dipped enough to show more than a trace of cleavage. She luxuriated in the feel of them against her smooth skin as she pulled them on. Then she slipped on a thigh-length, light-weight silk kimono that was also mostly red with an intricately embroidered green and golden dragon that wrapped around from the back left side up and around her right side to the front seemingly caressing and support her bosom. They had been a birthday present from her grandparents. A pair of red silk slippers completed the look. She looked one more time in the mirror, preening slightly as she found herself liking what she saw.

She was still sometimes a little embarrassed with these unfamiliar emotions. It still felt slightly treasonous to the remnants of Lee in her, to revel in her femininity.

Oh well, what the heck, she knew deep inside that she was still Lee, but she also knew she was becoming so much more. With a sense of being especially playful this morning, she dabbed a little perfume on, not consciously realizing that she preparing to do what every young girl did at sometime during their lives since time immemorial. She was preparing to try and flirt with her dad and Grandpa.

With a last glance, she flounced out of the bathroom and down the stairs. She was so new to her present condition that she was mostly oblivious to the fact that her looks, the clothes she had chosen and her bouncy, flirty actions, were guaranteed to make a dead man sit up and take notice (mostly oblivious, but not totally). It was probably a good thing today that she only had sisters.

When she got downstairs, she could hear her mother in the kitchen with her sisters. From the parlor she could hear the sounds of a parade, and men’s voices. She knew she should go help in the kitchen, but the parlor sounded so much more interesting and she was curious as to whom the voices belonged.

Sliding the French doors back, she was shocked to see not only her Dad, Uncle Allen and Granddad; but there was Coach, Doc, and most importantly — Jim! She ran to his arms, barely remembering in time that if she jumped on him with her weight, she was likely to hurt him. Instead she wrapped her arms around him and picked him up, swinging him around, giggling hysterically.

He seemed pretty glad to see her too, if the lump in his pants was any indication. She carefully squeezed him close to her, and unobtrusively (she thought) rubbed her hip against his organ. She ducked her head and blushed all the way to her toes when she looked up and saw her mother standing in the doorway grinning at her, with raised eyebrows.

————

Christmas had been great, especially her surprise visitors. Seeing them was the best Christmas present of all.

Coach had come over and given her a cautious hug, then a tighter one as she saw that he realized she had truly accepted and even embraced her change. He seemed very happy for her. He knew she would have days of doubt, but he felt like she had finally crossed her Rubicon.

Coach smiled at Doc’s first question. “Do you have your bees with you?” She smiled broadly as reached into the pocket on the front of her robe and brought out the smallest bee box.

“Good girl,” he said. “You never know when they might come in handy.” There was a slight emphasis on that last statement, she didn’t quite understand. He hadn’t elaborated then, but she could tell there was something more. She decided she could wait for what she expected to be less than joyous news.

She dutifully went to the kitchen to offer her help, but her mother replied. “I’ve got plenty of help in the kitchen. You go catch up with your friends.”

Leah squeezed into the small space on the sofa between Jim and Coach. Her broader beam making the available sofa space a tighter fit than it would have been last Christmas, but she kinda liked the feel of their legs against hers.

Jim liked it too, so much so that he decided he needed a pillow in his lap.

Overruling her sisters, her mother insisted on breakfast before opening presents. Complaining they followed their mother to the kitchen. Soon the rich aromas of bacon, and ham, along with the sweet scents of warm honey, maple syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg filled the home.

After breakfast, they had finally got to the presents. Mom didn’t even insist on washing the breakfast dishes first. They had all gotten lots of loot, even Coach, Doc, and Jim had a couple of presents under the tree. Leah looked at her mother who just smiled and nodded. Leah realized then that this was not as much a surprise visit to everyone else as it was to her.

Leah had gotten mostly clothes from her family, and to her surprise, she was fine with that, happy in fact. As Lee she would have been disappointed to get clothes, now she couldn’t wait to try them on. Doc had brought her a upgraded version of her bee manufacturing box. One that would allow her to customize their function, to suit her needs. He explained that he had also altered the components of regular bee’s sting injection so that if anyone analyzed the residuals, it would only show normal bee toxins.

Coach had given her a set of precision tools to aid her gadgeteering and devising. It looked entirely too expensive, but when she said something, he just shook his head and said every devisor should have the basic tools of the trade. Besides, he said most of the kit was custom made by a devisor/gadgeteer friend of his who owed him a favor, so even if it wasn’t a cheap product it hadn’t cost as much as it appeared.

They all had a great afternoon. She had spent as much time as possible with Jim, of course. They had even gotten in little “private” time upstairs in Mammaw’s sewing room, at least until giggling from the hallway clued them that they weren’t as alone as they thought. Leah held her finger to her lips to tell Jim to stay quiet as she closed her eyes and concentrated.

They heard Beth let out a loud yelp in the hall, as Leah used her magic to create a very tiny lightening bolt behind her. Then it was Jim and Leah’s turn to giggle and laugh as Leah could hear her sisters running down the steps giggling. She shrugged and grinned as she knew she would hear more about this, but that didn’t stop her from going back to a little casual necking with Jim, and just a little less casual necking.

His hand felt wonderful as she let him caress her breast through the layers of silk as did his lips on hers. She could still feel her nipples stiffening and her breath quickening against the fabric of her bra when she thought of it. She wondered what it would feel like without the intervening fabric. She quietly resolved to find out sooner rather than later.

Leah couldn’t believe that she had gotten comfortable enough in this body to be making out with Jim. Lee, the boy, was already just becoming a memory.

————

The next morning came all to soon. Once again, Leah was quite melancholy as she packed her stuff in a new SUV that had been delivered from an unknown source. It was still a couple of hours before dawn as they loaded up.

Jim, Coach and Doc had left late last night, so Jim could have some time with his parents before school began. Now she was headed to a new school that would essentially be her home for the next four years or five years.

As wonderful as Whateley sounded, and it did, she was still going to be the new kid, coming in the middle of the year, at least until Jim got there. She be alone among strangers. All the other students would have formed their on cliches. She would be an outsider, but she was getting used to that.

Worse yet, she, Golden and her mother were going on toward Boston alone, while Tom and her sisters stayed at her grand-parent’s house for another couple of days before heading toward New York. It was supposed to provide a distraction and confusions for the MCO, which would hopefully to slow them down.

Leah had a lot of doubts about the wisdom of this and worried about the rest of her family. What if they took one of her sisters thinking it was her or took them as hostage to lure her out?

After a series of tearful goodbyes, they had hit the road a little before daylight. Her Mom was a morning person and wanted to make it to Buffalo, NY before dark, thinking it would be more difficult for the MCO to find them among all the people there.

After a half hour or so, Leah drifted off to sleep lulled by the oncoming headlights and the monotony of the road in the dark. When she woke, she realized she was no longer in Ohio. The bright sunlight filtering through the trees and babbling brooks told her, she had been brought to Avalon. She quickly made her way to the henge.

“Good morning, Leah.” Danu’s lilting music-like voice greeted her.

“Good morning, my Goddess.” Leah decided that she had been too cavalier in her previous dealings with the goddess, and tried greet her with a fairly miserable excuse for a curtsy.

“Leah, Leah, Leah, my daughter, I’ve told you that you need not stand on ceremony with me, child. You are too much beloved and always welcome here.” Danu said with mirth in her voice at Leah’s posturing.

“Yeah, well I guess I do still have a lot to learn about being a girl.” I grinned, “How to curtsy might be one of them.” We both giggled a little at that.

“Come, my daughter, and walk with me.” They strode through the peaceful forest, but here and there Leah could see signs that all was not well in Avalon. On a great towering oak, the leaves were withering and dying. While Leah knew that this was not uncommon in a normal forest, she also knew that it was very odd for this one. She had never seen anything else in Avalon dying.

Also, here was a badger burrow, abandoned and neglected. Weed encroached on the entrance, and the stench of something long dead reached her sensitive nose from the burrow.

A beautiful Bird of Paradise lay beside the path, still alive but fading fast. Even the grass seemed less soft, and kind of crunched underfoot. Leah gasped as she finally became totally aware of the valley. Whereas the first time she came here, there were beautiful flowers blooming everywhere and hundreds of small rills and streams watered the fertile valley, now only the largest of the streams still contained water. The only flowers visible were small, deformed things as if looked as if there was too little energy in the plant to bloom and the flowers were a dying gasp.

“I see you noting the changes in Avalon, now know the reason behind it. You remember your dream of the Shoggoth, well, it does indeed stir deep in the bowels of the world. Soon it will make it’s way to the surface and come for you. Energy that once went to maintaining this speck of the old world now opposes it and as a result winter and death reaches even here. There are also lesser evils beginning to rise for the purpose of hindering you on your journey.”

“But you can’t let Avalon die!” Leah’s distress evident in her voice. “I need this place.” She said realizing it was true. This place of beauty, peace and tranquility was her final refuge when the world became to much. Her place of healing, body, mind and spirit. “Let it come. I will fight for you,” she spoke with a ferocity that Golden would have been proud. “You must protect this place —— for me.” She said in a quiet imploring voice.

“Leah, I know your spirit is strong, but you are not ready to fight one such as this. Your body is as a toddler’s compared with what it must and will become. The energies needed would destroy you without training—or maybe some tools to aid you.”

“What can we do? We can’t just let it loose upon the world, and I cannot let Avalon wither.”

“No, we cannot, but there are ways we can aid your body to manipulate the raw magic required without directly channeling it through your body. Old ways long forgotten in the mists of time and do not despair for Avalon, for if you succeed, it will recover.

“Do you remember the elves that fought the Shoggoth? Some used wands and staffs to channel the energies. Others used swords imbued with light magic, arrows with heads of light and most wore armor of shimmering silver.

“The wands, staffs, arrows and swords were made with Mithril and Orichalum such that they act like batteries and transformers, storing and stepping the magical energies up or down, so those fighters could use them without burning out their bodies. There is still much risk but without them they would have destroyed themselves.”

“I remember the dream, but I don’t understand. I don’t have these things.”

“Their armor, bows and some arrows lie buried with those who fell; at least some of them do. Others were lost, but there is a large barrow where many of the honored dead were laid to rest. It is protected by powerful wards that have kept the ravages of time from them. There you can recover the armor, bows and arrows for those who you will meet and who will fight with you.

“But listen to me closely now,” Danu voice was dark and full of portents. “The staffs and wands are keyed to their former owners, and can be used by no other. To attempt to do so, would mean death to the one attempting to use them. If it is necessary to move them, you must wrap your hands with silk, although many folds of linen will suffice, if you are careful.

“When you get to Whateley and have made friends you can trust, then I will show you where they lie, so that you can take them to recover enough of the other items to equip them. The barrow is well hidden behind many layers of wards and glamours.

The Goddess’ voice lightened as she said, “I understand that this is the time of the celebration of the birth of your Christ child, and is often accompanied by the giving and receiving of gifts. I have a gift for you from your father, made with his own hands laboring in the great armory of Tir na n-Og at the forge of Gobnui - the Tuatha dé Danann God of the Smiths.”

She presented Leah a package wrapped in fine supple leather that seemed to ripple under her sight making it hard to look at. Her eyes seemed to want to slip off it to something else. It’s color seemed to change at random. When removed, the wrappings were revealed to be a long hooded supple leather cloak lined with soft fur. Inside the leather cloak was a garment of shimmering fabric. When Leah lifted it up it was an elegant gown of bright shinning silver. The fabric was so fine it seemed to slip through her fingers like water.

“I can’t wear this.” Leah protested.

“All is not as it seems,” Danu replied. “You must wear it. Slip it on.”

With a sigh of resignation and some fumbling Leah managed to slip it over head and get her arms in the right places. The gown dropped to over her coming it to her feet. A quick very feminine wiggle of her hips settled the gown into place.

It had seemed loose and shapeless when she started but now the gown fit her like a glove from the hips up. The skirt portion was loose so as not to impede her movement. The long sleeves came to her wrists and there was a pair of gloves of the same material. A

“Would you like to see?”

Leah nodded. Danu waved her hand and water from the stream rose up and became a mirror.

Leah gasped. This could not be her. This creature looking back at her look -- looked like a—a—a goddess. In fact, she looked a lot like the goddess standing in front of her.

Danu's tinkling laugh rang through the forest. "Should my daughter not look like a goddess!

The gown is woven of moon-silver that the dwarves called Mithril. Your father drew the metal into gossamer thin wire, spun the threads and wove it into the garment, you now wear. As fine and beautiful as it is, it will protect you better than the finest armor; stiffening to absorb blows, arrows, knives or bullets. It will also store great quantities of essence for your use and will absorb spells cast at you, storing their essence as well. Only the fiercest driven arrows or knives made of Mithril themselves can pierce it.

Leah stood open mouthed gazing at the gown. If anyone but the Goddess had told these things she would never have believed it, but from Danu she could not doubt its truth.

The gown itself was a thing of great beauty, gleaming bright silver. The bodice designs of golden thread forming many runes and designs. There were spiral bracelets that fit on both her upper and lower arms which with the inlaid gloves completed the outfit.

The gown is your armor and the golden runes are woven with Orichalcum which allows you to store and direct large amounts essence to power your spells in it. If you could put a value on it, that gown alone is probably worth more than the whole of your states east of the Mississippi river.

There was also a pliant soft leather catsuit in the package that covered her from ankles to throat and down to her wrists with a tight fitting hood. The stitching on the quilted silk was obviously done by hand, and it was infinitely finer than any machine sewing Leah had ever seen. In fact you had to look very close to see that it was not a single piece of cloth or leather.

Every square inch of the leather on the catsuit was embossed with many tiny runes, almost invisible, each rune a quarter the size of her littlest fingernail. Leah knew that the sum of the runes were greater than the parts. Each individual rune seemed to form a grand pattern.

The leather suit is made of hide of a non-sentient species of dragon that still lives in some numbers in the high Himalayas. It is extremely difficult to obtain since the dragons protest most vehemently its collection. The leather alone will turn all but the most fiercely driven moon-silver knife or one made of Orichalcum. The runes will protect you from many magics and many other energies directed at you. Few of the Eldar remember the secrets of the collection and spelling of the hides.

“The cloak leather is made from the hide of a unicorn; — one who died a natural death, she quickly reassured Leah as she saw the horror on her face. It makes great camouflage, if you need not to be seen. Like the jumpsuit, it to is also ensorcelled to resist spells and turn an enemy’s eyes from you. The catsuit and cloak will keep you warm in the coldest winter and cool in the most scorching heat.

These are your father’s gift to you to honor your birth. Hide them well, for many would kill to take even one of them. Their value is beyond measure. You should know that your father passed much of his grace into the making of this for you.”

Reaching behind her, Danu pulled out a long slender sword. The sword was a work of art in and of itself. The blade was laminate-welded with three distinct metals. The edge was the silver grey, like steel (and yet not quite), backing it was more of the silvery Mithril, and finally the back of the blade was more of the golden metal.

“The silver metal is Mithril and the golden metal is Orichalcum, you can charge it with magical energy. Thus charged no armor or magic shields can resist it. The edge will never need honing for it is made of adamantium. May it help you see another anniversary of birth of the Christ child.

“This is the sword named Claíomh Solais. It was crafted by another of your brother Tuatha, Nuada Airgeadlámh, in the days of Atlantis. The sword was irresistible in battle, having the power to cleave Nuada’s fiercest enemies in half and it glowed with the light of the sun when charged. It was like the swords in your dream, but greater. Nuada was a sorcerer/smith of surpassing skill. He, himself, placed it in my hands when he departed this world. I now pass it now to you, may it serve you well.

“Thank you, Mother Danu!” Leah said with feeling as she caressed the sword. It seemed to sing in her bones as she caressed it. “Is my father here? I wish to thank him also.”

“Alas, no. The forging of your armor took a terrible toll on him. As I said, he put much of himself and his magic into its creation, and it will be some time before he can leave Tir na n-Og again, maybe centuries. I will extend him your felicitations and gratitude, though.

“Finally, I give you this,” and handed her a small nondescript bag of the sort to hang on a belt. This bag has been especially enchanted to contain and conceal your armor and weapons while concealing them. Yet when we are finished you will be able to don your equipment in moments.”

“But that cloak wouldn’t fit in there, much less the gown, suit and sword.”

“Reach into the bag.”

Leach did as she was told, and discovered to her surprise she could not reach the bottom or the sides. “Wow! I don’t know what to say. This is fantastic, but how do I get to them to get what I want out?”

“Just turn the bag up and shake it once and the last thing put into it will appear. Shake it twice and the gown will appear and fit itself immediately to you. You will be able to don your gown and bracers in mere moments due to the enchantments on it.

“Shake the bag three times and everything in it will come out. There is a small side pocket just inside the top of the bag that can hold small or delicate objects and protect them from harm.”

“That’s crazy cool. Thank you so much.” Leah was excited

“Now, however, it is time that I teach you to craft some tools of power of your own. Tools, being made with your own hands, will be capable of much more than those made for you. Also, some of what you will make, cannot be made by someone else and still work for you. The first thing a magic user such as yourself needs is an Anthame.”

“I need music?”

“Not anthem, Anthame, or ceremonial knife.” Danu laughed. “In truth, any virgin dedicated knife could in theory serve as an Anthame, but one made by your own hands of materials recovered from the earth can be used to infinitely greater effect to transform and direct magical energies. Since you have nothing, but your power, we will have to start from the beginning.

“You will need the power to which this will give you access to defend yourself and your mother against dark beings — lesser demons and other dark creatures like those the original Tuath dé Dannu fought in the mists of time in Ireland and Wales; and dark or misguided men, that are even now close on your heels, such men of the MCO. Some of whom are in league willingly or unwillingly with the forces of chaos.

“In many ways the men are the greater threat, for not all are bad. You will have to discern for yourself how to do battle with them. They will catch up with you just after full dark this day. There is one among them whose soul has been corrupted by the darker powers that seek to bring back the Great Old Ones. He will kill you, if he can, and justify it by saying you are a threat to men.

“He has many men and machines that are both ahead and behind you. Some of these men’s souls are dark and they fight out of hatred for mutants. Some of them believe they are protecting the innocent, and there are a few among them who would be your friend, if they thought they could trust you.

“They do not know that at about the same time as they will spring their trap for you, they and you will be attacked by the lesser demons sent to slay you before you can learn enough and growing strong enough to oppose the Great Old Ones. You must find a way to fight both the demons and the men who would kill you. You must not kill these men, lest all men’s hands be turned against you.”

“Wonderful. The MCO is going to try and kill me, but I can’t fight back, and a bunch of demons get thrown in just to keep things interesting. Just how am I supposed to accomplish all of this? Can’t I just bring my mother here and then us wait here until they give up and go home?”

“I am sorry my child, but your mother’s body could not stand the dimensional shift to enter Avalon, and if they take her they will hurt her to get to you.”

“But all is not lost. There is one among them with the authority and desire to protect you from the other MCO agents. His name is Wylann. If you have the opportunity, seek him out.”

“Just why would he help me? Aren’t all the MCO a bunch of mutant hating goons. They have already tried to attack me with power armor once.”

“Do all mutants want to kill baselines?”

“Nooo! But the MCO is different.”

“How are they different?”

“For one thing they all hate and fear us.”

“Many do. Some hate because other mutants have out of anger, fear or just ignorance hurt or killed them or their families. Others because they feel inferior and fear that mutants will take over their world. What they don’t realize is mutants have already overrun the world.”

“Huh! When? Where?”

“What is a human but a mutant ape? What they now call mutants are just the next step in the process. Cro-Magnon man probably felt the same way about modern humans, and they were right, but nature marches on.

“What you, Leah, must do is show them that they don’t have to fear you.”

“How do I do that?” Leah was feeling totally confused.

“You could start by saving them from the demons when they attack. Fight with them, not against them.”

“That’s assuming they don’t kill me on sight.”

“I did not say it would be simple or easy. Enough of this, we have much to do and little time, even here, to do it. Let us be at it.”

————